Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
9-2024
Abstract
Recent theoretical and empirical accounts maintain that different indices of smartphone use—including problematic smartphone use, phone-checking, and screen time—tap distinct facets of smartphone use. This highlights the importance of disentangling potentially unique associations between facets of smartphone use and psychological distress outcomes. The present study examined fine-grained relationships between several smartphone-use indices and facets of psychological distress. Further, we probed whether sex modulated the relationships between smartphone-mediated behaviours and distress outcomes. Using structural equation modelling, we analysed data from young adults (N = 364) and evaluated the associations of smartphone-related behaviours—problematic use, phone checking, and overall screen time—with depression, anxiety, and stress. We found that phone-checking frequency predicted greater depression, anxiety, and stress levels, while problematic smartphone use predicted anxiety levels above and beyond the effects of other indices. Further, smartphone screen time predicted depression, but not other distress-related outcomes. We also found an interaction effect such that the positive relation between problematic smartphone use and stress was more pronounced for females than males. Our results held true when key covariates (age, sex, socioeconomic status, negative affect, and neuroticism) were accounted for. These findings underscore the importance of distinguishing indices of smartphone use in relation to psychological distress.
Keywords
Problematic use, smartphone checking, screentime, depression, anxiety, stress
Discipline
Social Psychology | Social Psychology and Interaction
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Behaviour & Information Technology
Volume
43
Issue
5
First Page
956
Last Page
969
ISSN
0144-929X
Identifier
10.1080/0144929X.2023.2196573
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
Citation
TNG, Yue Qi Germaine, & YANG, Hwajin.(2024). Nuanced relationships between indices of smartphone use and psychological distress: Distinguishing problematic smartphone use, phone checking, and screen time. Behaviour & Information Technology, 43(5), 956-969.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4137
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2023.2196573
